Semisynthetic production of hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural: The benefits of an integrated approach

Abstract

In this study, an integrated mechanoenzymatic/catalytic approach was employed to produce furan-based platform chemicals from newsprint wastes. The holocellulose fraction of the newsprint was first hydrolyzed to monosaccharides using a commercial cellulases blend at 55 °C (enzyme loading of 45 mg/g of substrate or 4.5% w/w). Working with moist-solid enzymatic reaction with a short period (15 min) of ball milling followed by 24 h of static incubation greatly enhanced hydrolysis, affording glucose and xylose yields of 52 mol% and 22 mol%, respectively. The sugars in the hydrolysate were next dehydrated using AlCl3.6H2O (200 mg) as an eco-friendly catalyst. With stirring at 600 rpm and 150 °C, hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural were obtained in yields of 66 mol% and 67 mol%, respectively. Another aspect was the first-order kinetic model with two consecutive reactions which was sufficient to predict the decomposition of sugars (glucose and xylose) into hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural, respectively.